After suspending his presidential campaign, Indian-American Vivek Ramaswamy thinks it would be “healthy for the country” if Republican candidates Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis drop out of the 2024 White House race and endorse former president Donald Trump.  

In an interview with a news channel, the biotech entrepreneur said the Republican voter base in Iowa has “spoken loud and clear” that they want Trump to be the presidential nominee.

“I think Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley would actually at this point, do this country and this party a service by stepping aside to make sure that we’re focused on not only nominating Donald Trump, but getting this country back and reviving those founding revolutionary ideals,” the 38-year-old said.

“I do think that would be healthy for this country,” he added.

DeSantis and Haley, who emerged second and third in the caucus, hope to overtake Trump further down the primaries but the gap between the former president and both his rivals remains too wide.

“I think it’s very clear who the Republican primary electorate is saying that they want to be their nominee. I ran to be that person. They sent me a very positive message. But the very positive message they sent to all of us is that Donald Trump needs to be the nominee of this party,” Ramaswamy said.

“And I think that you know what, especially Ron DeSantis, at least of the two of them will have an important role to play in the future of this country leading this nation,” he added.

Fresh out of winning the Iowa Caucus, Trump made his first campaign trail appearance in Atkinson, New Hampshire, with Ramaswamy, where the latter gave an eight-minute fiery speech amidst chants of “VP VP VP” by supporters.

After his remarks, Trump praised the political newcomer, calling Ramaswamy “very special”, and told his supporters that the latter “is going to be working with us, and he will be working with us for a long time”.

Haley refused to debate

On the other hand, the next Republican presidential debate has been cancelled with Indian-American aspirant Nikki Haley refusing to appear on stage unless former president Donald Trump takes part.

Following her third-place finish in the Iowa caucus, Haley took to her X on Jan 16 and said that so far they have had five “great debates” in the campaign.

“Unfortunately, Donald Trump has ducked all of them. He has nowhere left to hide. The next debate I do will either be with Donald Trump or with Joe Biden. I look forward to it,” Haley, the lone woman candidate in the presidential race, said.

The local news broadcaster and local television station scrapped the debate scheduled for today (Jan 18) at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, a local newspaper reported.

In addition, another debate in New Hampshire, which is slated for Jan 21, is also in doubt.

Haley’s announcement came a day after America’s twice-impeached former president, facing more than 90 criminal charges, emerged triumphant in Iowa and solidified his position as the frontrunner for the Republican nomination.

The party frontrunner won by a wide margin over Haley, who won just over 19% of the vote.

DeSantis slammed his rivals

Florida governor Ron DeSantis, who edged out Haley by two points to finish in second place in Iowa, slammed his rivals for refusing to debate him.

In the run-up to the New Hampshire nominating contest, he accused them of running a “basement campaign”.

“What does that say? We have four candidates for president now -- Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Nikki Haley and me. I’m the only one who’s not running a basement campaign at this point,” DeSantis told voters during a town hall in Henniker, New Hampshire.

Training his guns at the former South Carolina governor, DeSantis said Haley is afraid to debate and she is just running to be Trump's Vice President.

“Nikki Haley is afraid to debate because she doesn’t want to answer the tough questions such as how she got rich off Boeing after giving them millions in taxpayer handouts as governor of South Carolina,” DeSantis wrote on X after Haley’s announcement.

“I won’t snub New Hampshire voters like both Nikki Haley and Donald Trump, and plan to honour my commitments. I look forward to debating two empty podiums in the Granite State this week,” he added.

(Compiled from IANS)

-Edited for style

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